Discovering Harry
by evilcharlee
Summary: AU: To the world he was dead. In reality, for many had given into the rumours that the killing curse used on the potter baby was such in magnitude he was ‘vaporized’, the potter boy was placed under the protection of another ‘disappeared' wizard. HHr
1. Introduction

**Hello there people!**

**This is only an introductory chapter, and I promise, after this chapter, the story gets really interesting! After you read this, please don't be caught into thinking this is another one of those "predictable" stories, because what I have planned, is not predictable…at all!**

**Please leave me a comment, if you want to ask anything, as I'm sure that are a couple of things you guys may find strange about this fic.**

**It _IS_ AU, so there are a few points at the end for some of the questions you may want to ask.**

**Anyway, hope you likey! Please tell me if I should bother posting the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K.Rowling, and unfortunately, I shall not be receiving anything from writing this fic, except my own little presents to myself.**

_**Discovering Harry**_

_**Chapter One: Introduction**_

"**Dressed to, dressed to depress**

**You couldn't ask for anything less**

**Dressed to, dressed to depress**

**My whole life is a fucked mess"**

"What have I told you about singing that kind of stuff?"

A handsome man in his 40's was sitting at the breakfast bar as he watched his teenage godson move around the kitchen, whilst singing under his breath what seemed to be another one of his 'I'm-so-emo-I-hate-my-life' songs. Well, who could blame him?

To the world, he was dead, and so was his godfather. Both dead, except to a select few that knew of their existence.

"Whatever Sirius, I can do a lot worse" Harry Potter mumbled back.

Harry Potter, the-boy-who-disappeared, so to speak. It had been 15 years since the dreadful attack on Godric's Hollow by Lord Voldemort and his followers. The being known as Lord Voldemort had attempted to murder what was left of his biggest threats, the Potter family.

The father was harder to get rid of than expected, but after he was weakened by the cruciatus curse a couple of times, the curse of death was easy enough. The mother than put up a noble fight to protect her son, however it was in vain. The mother was killed, and finally Lord Voldemort had only one Potter to go to fulfill his mission. He attempted the killing curse, but it backfired, causing his corpse to fall to the ground but not his soul. Lord Voldemort fled vowing to find the son and bring him down as soon as possible.

The magical world rejoiced, in what was to be known as the downfall of He-who-must-not-be-named. The loss of the Potter family, however unfortunate, was mourned, but over-ridden by the joy that came with the news of the dark lord's dead body. It was tragic, yes, that Lily and James had died, and the potter boy had disappeared, but if this was the sacrifice for ending the torture of countless numbers of other families, there was no debate.

In reality, for many had given into the rumors that the killing curse used on the potter baby was such in magnitude he was 'vaporized', the potter boy was taken from the wreckage and placed under the protection of another 'disappeared' wizard.

Sirius Black, the wizard that children were told would come and get them in their sleep if they were to behave badly, was in hiding after being wrongly accused of a mass-murder and running form the law-enforcers.

He was the only remaining family to be speak of to the child, and was given responsibility of the child to keep him from the world.

It was the more older and wiser wizard, Albus Dumbledore, that had given Sirius his instructions;

"I am wary that Lord Voldemort has not left us for good, Sirius. I am placing Harry in your care, to keep him safe, and to teach him the values of life. Lord Voldemort will not be blind for long, and soon he will form a plot to reach him. It is with great regret that I will have to release him from Hogwarts School as well. He needs to remain dead to the world, in which, Voldemort may be less hasty to reform to full power to take revenge."

The old wizard warned Sirius of the consequences of keeping the boy under house-arrest, and that maybe if things take a turn for the better, Harry might be able to go to Hogwarts after-all. "But for now," Albus sighed, "it seems there is still much danger. This may not be ideal, but I trust this is the safest option."

Sirius couldn't have agreed to the deal quicker. He had only been in hiding for a week, but was already craving human contact and conversation, and so many things that we take for granted. He could not have been more pleased to know he would be able to watch-out for his godson, as he heard of the news of his best friend's death he would make this his promise to him. Harry would grow up in the best way possible, under the circumstances, and Sirius would do everything in his power to protect him.

Harry's childhood could not have been more difficult. He was moved around from place to place every couple of months until the age of 11, when he was supposed to commence his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, Voldemort's most devoted followers were still in society, and many odd happenings were still occurring, which made Dumbledore uneasy and he relented to offer Harry his deserved place at Hogwarts. In this case, Harry was tutored at home by one of the professors at Hogwarts, which lead to the present arrangement.

Remus Lupin had much respect for Dumbledore, and when asked to tutor the young potter boy, had no hesitation just as Sirius had no hesitation in protecting him. This was to be _his_ contribution to the death of his best friend. It occurred to Lupin that he could not very well keep tutoring the boy if he were to keep moving about the country every few months, and he came with up the idea of re-habilitating his old haunt in Hogsmeade.

The Shrieking shack was perfect. No one would dare approach it, as it was rumored to be haunted, and after 2 months of magic, it could have been no better a place to live. Near the village of Hogsmeade so news was not hard to come by, and Remus was no longer traveling long distance to teach both Harry and his classes at Hogwarts. The rumors of it being haunted were kept up by Lupins transformations taking place in the basement of the house, in which case, the howls would still be heard in the village.

Harry was as happy as a depressed teenager could be when hearing of the plan to move to the 'Shrieking Shack'.

"A permanent home. See? We can already call it home, and we haven't even moved in yet! Yes, I think this will be the best thing to happen to us for a while." Sirius had said.

From the age of 9 years old, Harry had started to become restless. He wanted to go to the market, he wanted to play with the children, he wanted to do so many things, but was forbid from many. He had many rows with his godfather over the issue, which lead to a certain dislike deep within him for Sirius for many years.

Eventually, at the age of 11 he was told of why he was unable to lead a normal life. Even if he were to go outside and try to integrate with society, Harry would always be a different person to everyone else. He was told of Voldemort, how Harry alone managed to evade the killing curse, and how the world thought he was dead.

That night Harry cried himself to sleep, and did not emerge from his room for a week. He did not talk to Sirius for 3 weeks, in which the first words to Sirius were that of hate and disgust.

Harry grew up fast, even for a boy that spent most of his time with adults. At the age of 13 Harry was showing signs of rebellious nature. He had started to creep around the house in a most suspicious way. When Sirius had decided to confront him, he opened Harry's bedroom door to find the window open and Harry gone. Security charms were placed all the way round the house later that day, and once again, another fight ensued between godfather and son.

Sirius seeked advice from Albus Dumbledore, who said that the best thing to do now was to be honest with Harry. Harry was growing up fast, and soon, he shall be come reckless if not told everything about his past, present and future.

The next day, a rather resentful Harry sat down with Sirius, only to be told everything that he was not told before. How Voldemort had waged a war on Harry if he were ever to re-appear, how Harry was the key to defeating Voldemort once and for all, and why it is he was not given his place at Hogwarts.

"Harry, I am old and have known what it is to be young. It may seem stupid to say something like this to such an intelligent young man like yourself, but when you are young, you are reckless. Imagine going to Hogwarts, and meeting so many people who want to know you? Be your best friend? Who can you trust? And then, even if we were to give you a disguise, who can you trust to tell the truth? I like to think that I know you, being your godfather, and I can tell that it would eat you up inside if you were to go into Hogwarts and make friends but not be able to tell them who you really were. I hope this makes sense now, and that you will not be so cold to me when I enforce rules that are there to protect you more than anything else."

Harry asked countless times over the next 2 years why? How? Who? When? And Sirius had obliged with all the details from that point on. There was no sense in holding back from Harry anymore.

This is what lead Harry to his present state. At 16 years old, Harry should have been entering his 6th year at Hogwarts and start his N.E.W.T's. However, he was stuck in the Shrieking Shack, pondering if there was any point in taking the exams if he were to be cooped up in here for the rest of his life.

"Soon, Harry, you will have to go out and find out for yourself the horror of Lord Voldemort." Remus Lupin had replied, "I do not wish to scare you, but I regard you as old enough to not sugar-coat everything. That is why we are training you nearly everyday in combat. Soon you shall start lessons with Albus Dumbledore."

"So there's no possible way for getting out of these exams?" Harry has asked with a bit of hope in his voice.

Remus chuckled, "You may not have been to Hogwarts, but you sure sound like all my other pupils there. Which brings me onto your N.E.W.T's. Have you chosen the subjects yet?"

"Well," Harry started, "I would like to carry on with most of my subjects. But I do realise, that some of them, are a bit out of your area. For Example Charms? or Potions? Can you still teach me in these?"

"We'll sort something out." Lupin said not giving any more thought on the situation, and leaving that evening to lock himself in the basement.

"_**I don't care, motherfucker, I don't care,"**_

"Ok, now it's on!" Sirius said as he lowered his newspaper only to see his godson smiling innocently at him as if he had done nothing wrong.

"What? I haven't done anything wrong." Harry shrugged, as his smile turned into his cheeky smile that Sirius had seen many a time and commented reminded him of Harry's father. Sirius shook his head at his godson. Harry could definitely be a pain in the ass sometimes, but Sirius wouldn't want him to ever change. As even though he had a difficult childhood, Harry still seemed to be a charming, funny and kind guy, something that did not go unnoticed by Sirius who was not oblivious to how this change had came about.

The first time Sirius noticed that Harry was becoming slightly less depressed and seemed to even be enjoying his godfather's company was around a year ago. Harry has started resorting to sneaking out under his invisibility cloak late at night after his Godfather went to sleep, and returning before daybreak. Harry did not think Sirius knew of this at all, as he was careful to break through all the charms and stupid booby traps his godfather would setup.

Sirius had had a serious talk with him, but realized that Harry was at that age when whatever he said, he would not be able to stop Harry from sneaking out, even if he tied him down, Harry would eventually find a way out. And the more Sirius tried to protect him by telling him to stay home, the more he seemed to be pushing Harry away.

Sirius gave up, and decided to remain blissfully oblivious to the goings on of his godson, as he knew it would get him even more stressed. After all, Harry was not stupid, and Sirius was sure that Harry would never do something stupid as to blow his cover.

"Nothing wrong, eh?" Sirius replied to his cheeky godson. "Well, then you will kindly tell me why, once again, my supply of polyjuice potion has diminished?" Sirius said calmly.

"Well, then _you_ can tell me, once again, why I shouldn't be learning how to disguise myself properly?" Harry replied, all playfulness left behind.

"You know why, and I'm not going to teach you just so you can go off every night to that pub of yours!" Sirius said raising his voice in a way that meant to say it was the end of discussion.

Harry looked at his godfather as he stared at the paper in front of him, and without a word went upstairs to his room, only to be followed a few seconds later with the thundering noise of electric guitars, fast drums and loud bass coming through the ceiling of the kitchen.

"Oh, and now comes the deafening rock music, clever, Harry…" Sirius sighed.

The next night, at around 11:00pm, Harry was listening intently at the door to his bedroom. He could not hear any noise on the landing or in the house for that matter, so assumed that Sirius had gone to sleep already.

He walked over to his bed, grabbed his invisibility cloak, and walked over to his window. He aimed his wand at the window and muttered the counter-jinx for his godfathers security charm, which changed every week like the stupid password into the house.

In the beginning, he would go out the front door, and return that way, as the front door recognized him, and with the correct password he would be granted access in to the house without alarms. However, this plan was thwarted after Sirius took to changing the password at random days of the week and in the middle of the night, which lead to a most uncomftable night sleeping on the front doorstep in hope he could pass by in the morning without Sirius noticing. That did not succeed either, as Harry was awoken by a small kick, and the face of his fuming godfather. Harry recalled saying something like, "Oh, shitty night for an astronomy project.", which was not the answer Sirius was looking for.

Tonight, he had to break through only 2 traps setup by his godfather who seemed to think it a sort of sport. Broken glass underneath his bedroom window, and then a freezing charm on the gate that would have Harry frozen in place until Sirius would find him.

"Oh Sirius, we are getting slow on these traps. One would think you've given up on them finally" Harry laughed and walked towards Hogsmeade under his cloak. As he came closer to the street full of shops and pubs, he took out a small vial of potion and uncorked it. He took a sip of the potion and felt the familiar boiling of his skin. Finally, when he had transformed, he came out from the cloak, and put the vial in his pocket, which would be taken every hour. He looked in a shop window, and found that he was looking into the face of one of his old neighbors from when Sirius used to move him every other month.

Harry had learned of the polyjuice potion at the age of 12, and from then on, had taken to stealing samples of hair from neighbors, or people that would walk up to his door in hope to sell some odd object. He had wanted to test it out himself, so had taken to 'borrowing' his godfathers supply to see the effects. It had come in handy finally when Harry had started to sneak into Hogsmeade. He enjoyed the thrill of meeting people in a different mask every time. He had often met the same people and liked to play tricks by pretending to know them, and having the other person wonder who he was for the entire night, but being too kind to ask him who he was.

Harry walked down Hogsmeade street and made a turn into a smaller back alley which lead to the bars and pubs he would frequently visit this late at night.

Whilst pondering if people would recognize this disguise, as he used it quite regularly, he entered through a dark door to his right to come face to face with a large wizard blocking the entranceway to a club.

"Where do you think you're going?" the bouncer asked in his usual I'm-going-to-make-this-hard-for-you tone.

"Inside?" Harry said impatiently.

The bouncer looked at him closely, as if scrutinizing his facial features to see if he was good-looking enough to enter the bar. Lucky for Harry, he had chosen to take the appearance of one of his more younger neighbors. He looked around early 20's in age, and flashed the bouncer a charming smile which he knew he could pull off in this disguise, as he had used it many times before. Men would see him and want to talk to him, as it was plain to see that the ladies favored his look too. It did no harm to be friends with the most good-looking guy in the bar, as you were guaranteed some action.

The bouncer nodded at him, and turned sideways to let Harry pass through into a more open area with a square bar in the middle. It was busy tonight, as it was every Friday night, and Harry could see that even some of the students, which he presumed came from Hogwarts, had decided to sneak out as well.

He walked up to the bar, ordered a drink he knew he would never be served if he had stayed looking 16, turned around and leant back on the bar whilst looking around the bar. There were booths around the side, and a couple of people had taken to dancing in the corner next to the DJ. As he searched the bar for any sign of people he may have met before he felt someone approach him and stand next to him.

"Well well, you look kind of lonely there stud, need some company?". Harry turned to the voice and looked down at the young girl.

"No thanks, I'm just waiting for some friends" Harry said and turned away. Harry could have bagged any girl he liked in this disguise, as his male 'friends' would tell him all the time. However, Harry did not think this a wise idea. He didn't have the heart to lead girls on, and then just sleep with them. He wanted to wait to find the right girl. Deep within him, he knew he was waiting for 'The One'. The one to which he would be able to come forward and tell her everything he had gone through, tell her who he really was, be able to finally share everything he had been keeping inside for so long. For now though, he would frequent the bars and pubs, maybe talk to a couple of girls, and then just hang out with his male mates for that evening.

As Harry stood there and watched the people around, he caught sight of some familiar faces sitting in one of the booths. He walked over, and by the time he had reached the table, he had completely forgot he was still in disguise.

"Jason!" one of the boys had yelled at him as he approached.

'Thank God!' Harry thought. He often forgot what his name was in certain disguises, as he liked to experiment with certain names and personalities.

"Hey there guys" Harry replied as he took up a vacant seat within the group which consisted of three guys and two girls.

"Didn't know you were going to be joining us tonight mate. Haven't seen you for a while, how's it going?" one of the boys asked.

"Well, you know. Idiots of society still walking around and making my life hell", Harry shrugged, "what about you Draco?"

"Same same, except I made friends with them" Draco said as he motioned towards the two boys sitting next to him, who were looking directly at the two girls' assets opposite them.

As Draco and Harry started up a conversation concerning quidditch and issues with no serious relevance, one of the girls shrieked and dropped her drink on the table causing Draco to shout at her.

"You stupid little wretch! What did you do that for!"

"I'm so sorry Draco. I just cant believe that they're letting people like _her_ into this place! I thought this was supposed to be an exclusive bar! How could they let in vermin like her!" The girl replied whilst looking across at the entrance with a look of deepest loathing on her face.

Harry turned to where she was looking along with Draco, who as soon as seeing the girl had stood up and cried out with disgust.

"NO! That's it, this place has obviously gone down-hill. Well, I won't be staying here much longer. Come on you lot, we're going" Draco said to the group gathering his jacket to leave.

"Are you coming with us, Jason?" Draco asked, "Jason?…Jason!…JASON!"

But 'Jason' did not reply. He had been stunned into silence, as his brain had stopped working. He had stopped breathing as he looked over to the entrance and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen his life. She looked like an angel, and he could not believe someone could look that beautiful and be breathing the same air as he was. She looked around the bar, and for a few seconds his eyes met hers, and his heart had started to beat so loudly all noise had been turned off.

Harry recovered after he lost sight of her, but as soon as he could he turned to Draco and asked of her name.

Draco raised his eyebrows with a questioning look, and replied with disgust "Well, if you must know she's a mudblood called Granger. Goes to Hogwarts in fact. Stupid place to let in ones like that. But, you know, she is one of _them_. A _gryffindor_."

"and her full name?" Harry asked without thinking.

Draco looked at him suspiciously and said slowly with what seemed slight caution, "Hermione Granger, why do you care so much?"

"Hermione Granger?" Harry said, as he got up and went in search of the women that had just taken his breath away.

**Well, hope you liked it! As I said, it's only the introduction!**

**There are a couple of things I should probably clarify:**

**1. The Dursleys do not exist in this fan fiction, so sorry to anyone who liked them! That is why Harry did not go to them when his parents died**

**2. Harry does 'not-exist', and Dumbledore had tried his best to make sure no one know of his existence, which is why he can do magic like anyone else. His wand does not exist, just like him…if that makes sense, there will be more information on this in the coming chapters.**

**3. It does seem very un-Dumbledore to put Harry in such conditions, being "dead" and all. It's just the way I wrote, and I kinda see Dumbledore as senile in this fic, even though he definitely isn't in the books. Dumbledore can make mistakes (as we have seen), I just write it this way. After-all it IS Alternate-Universe.**

**Any other questions…just leave a comment!**


	2. Like light to the flies

**Well, here's the second chapter, shorter than the previous chapter, but I wanted to get this done and written, and seemed like a good place to leave the ending, as you will see later on.**

**Anyway, enjoy…**

_**Discovering Harry**_

_**Chapter Two : Like light to the flies**_

It had been ten whole minutes. Ten long painful minutes since Harry had seen Hermione. He had left Draco and his other friends back at the booth, he could faintly here Draco calling out to him, but that was past him now. Harry did not care. He attempted to move back to the bar in hope that he could see better above the crowd.

As he was nearing the bar, it was as if the crowds had separated for him, as standing right in front of him was the beauty he had laid eyes upon only ten short minutes ago.

Her milky soft skin with a pink tinge on her cheeks, her long brown hair shining with curls, her big brown eyes and that god dam sexy smile. Harry was intoxicated, mesmerized, completely lost within her.

He had to figure out a way to talk to her, because he did not want to mess it up.

He walked to the bar and stood beside her, and ordered another drink. He looked at her profile even closer and found it even more perfect than from afar.

She seemed to have noticed he was staring at her, as she turned to look at him and smiled.

"What?" she asked in a low sexy voice. Harry could hardly contain himself anymore.

"Erm, nothing. You just…" Harry stopped, 'Oh dear god! You're fucking this up Harry! Get a grip on yourself!' he thought.

"I just…what?" she asked with full attention on him.

"You just…look…beautiful" Harry said in a mere whisper. He wasn't sure she had heard him, but she smiled at him as a reply.

"Jason," Harry introduced himself holding out his hand, "Jason…Davies"

"Hermione Granger" she replied shaking his hand.

"So," Harry started, "what are you doing in a bar like this? Is hogwarts not enough excitement for you?"

"Who said I go to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked him with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, erm, I just…assumed that you did, because, well, you know, you look like a student, and I don't see you in here often." Harry blushed as he realized that he was probably sounding incredibly stupid.

"How do you know I don't go to other places?" Hermione replied.

There was a moments silence, when Harry had looked extremely embarrassed, then Hermione burst out laughing. How did she make him feel this way? He was never normally this shy around girls.

"Oh, I am sorry. You're right. I _do_ go to Hogwarts. Erm, _I'm _deputy head girl in fact" she said uncomfortably.

"Nothing wrong with that." Harry stopped as he heard a familiar tune come onto the speakers. "Say, would you like to dance, maybe? With me?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Yes, sure, I love this song! 'Hot Magic' are one of my favourite bands." Hermione said as she nodded her head to the music.

Harry made a mental note as they both finished their drinks, and Harry lead Hermione to the dance floor. It was a fast tempo dance song, in which many of the other people on the dance floor were grinding with each other to the music. Hermione started to dance soon followed by Harry who could not take his eyes off her graceful body. She swayed her hips from side to side and her body was fluidly moving to the music. She started to get closer to Harry, and closer still, until there was no air between them. Their heads moved towards each other, and Harry tilted his head to the side awaiting some sort of explosion in his mind.

But it never came.

There were lips were centimeters apart, when Hermione was yanked away from Harry by someone else.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?"

A boy had yanked Hermione away from Harry, and was now heading towards the exit. Harry reacted almost instantly running to block Hermione's route.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? Is this guy you're boyfriend or something?" Harry asked looking at her intently, wishing everything in the world that she wasn't going to say yes.

"No, I'm not her boyfriend." the boy replied, "Look mate, you can have probably any girl here, but you can't have this one." The boy looked threatingly at Harry, and it was more his attitude than anything else that held Harry back from hurting him.

The boy started to move again towards the exit, but Harry had grasped Hermione's wrist in an attempt to communicate to her for a little longer.

"Hermione, what-"

"Look Jason," Harry was cut off, and was confused for a second when she called him Jason, "This is wrong. I can't…I have to go." Hermione sighed.

She looked at the boy next to her, and something seemed to be said between them that no one else would have understood.

Hermione pushed past Harry, and the boy followed her towards the exit. Harry stared at them, and heard the boy mutter to Hermione.

"You could at least act more Herm-…_yourself_" the boy has whispered to Hermione, and once seeing that Harry was still watching quickly changed his wording.

Once again, Hermione and the boy looked at each other, and spoke an invisible language which meant more to them than to anyone else.

Something wasn't right, wasn't right at all. Harry was standing by the exit of the bar watching the spot that had previously been occupied by Hermione. What had happened? Harry didn't fully understand.

He was no mood to stay where he was, so walked back out the bar, and trudged through Hogsmeade back to his house. He crept into his bed, careful not to wake Sirius, and lay there thinking over the events of that night.

As he went to sleep, his mind was filled with the music that he and Hermione had danced to, and his senses invaded with the feeling of her body so close to his.

The next morning, Harry awoke, and once again replayed the events of the previous night in his head. He vowed to himself that he would try to see Hermione again, how he did not know.

He rolled out of bed, and fell on the floor, and decided to crawl to the bathroom like he did every morning.

Sirius was cooking breakfast, and heard the familiar sounds of his godson getting out of bed. He heard a loud thump and then about 30 seconds after that, the shower turned on. Sirius smiled to himself and looked down at the breakfast he was preparing, it was the easiest way to let Harry know he was going to tell Harry something he might not like.

Harry walked into the kitchen, and immediately slowed down as he saw the plate Sirius was placing on the breakfast bar. Harry looked from the plate, to Sirius, then back to the plate.

"Alright, what's going on?" Harry asked in a suspicious tone.

"Hey!" Sirius said as he looked at Harry, almost falsely cheerful.

"Cut the crap Sirius. What's going on?" Harry asked again as he sat down at the breakfast bar. He might not have liked the idea of Sirius cooking breakfast, as it usually meant bad news, but he would never be stupid enough to not take advantage of the situation.

"Well," Sirius started as he watched his godson gobble down his food, "Remus and I have had a chat about your future schooling."

Sirius paused waiting for some king of reaction. Harry just looked at him, expecting him to carry on and just tell him what Sirius was trying to say.

"Well, as you know, N.E.W.T's are a bit advanced for Remus to keep tutoring you in, for certain subjects. So we thought, we would get some help. Like a tutor."

Sirius paused again. Harry was now extremely concerned. Why was this so hard for Sirius to explain? Harry knew that Remus could not keep tutoring him in some of his chosen subjects, and that he probably would need another tutor, but what was so hard for Sirius to explain?

"Riiiight" Harry said slowly, "soooo…I need another tutor. Problem being?"

"Oh, no problem. In fact, we already found one."

"Ok. So who is it?" Harry asked

Sirius was silent for a moment, as if thinking how best to explain. He nodded his head, agreeing with himself it was best just to jump right into it.

"The deputy head girl of Hogwarts."


	3. Anythin can happen in the next half hour

**Thanks for the reviews for the second chapter, hope this one isn't too long. The following chapters won't be so long hopefully (I should learn to waffle less)**

**Anyway, I thought I should also give credit to where my chapter titles are coming from, as I don't want to get in trouble if anyone suddenly notices they are familiar. They are songs that don't really have any relevance (maybe some), except for the title:**

**Like light to the flies - a song by a band called 'Trivium'**

**Anything can happen in the next half hour - a song by 'Enter Shikari'**

**I shan't keep you any longer, except to say, that I am moving out next week, off to University, so my updating may become a bit irregular as I settle in, but will be back to normal in no time. **

**Unfortunately this also means my beta reader had disappeared, (gone to Uganda of all places!), so if anyone is interested, please let me know!**

_**Discovering Harry**_

_**Chapter Three: Anything can happen in the next half hour**_

Silence.

That's all there was. Pure silence.

Sirius was watching Harry with interest as he took in the new bit of information. Harry seemed to go from shocked, to worried, to surprisingly happy in a matter of minutes.

"The…deputy head girl? Of Hogwarts?" Harry asked Sirius, as if this was some sort of present Sirius was giving him, and he was afraid he would take it back.

"Yes, the deputy head girl of hogwarts. The head girl is doing her N.E.W.T's, so is the head boy, and apparently the deputy head _girl _is better suited to tutor than the deputy head _boy._ Don't know if I quite agree with that, but he _is_ the headmaster." Sirius said, and watched as his godson sat their smiling at his plate.

"Soooo," Sirius started, "Why are you smiling?" he asked slowly.

"oh, just you know," Harry shrugged, but could see this wasn't a good enough answer for his godfather, "contact with someone my own age? I'm looking forward to it"

Sirius stood mouth hanging with surprise. He didn't know what to expect, but something along the lines of 'I hate you, why would you do this to me? Being tutored and bossed around by someone my own age? How are they supposed to know more than me? And a _girl_?'. that seemed to be more something Harry would say to him, so this new Harry was totally bewildering Sirius.

"You're not mad?" Sirius asked, "You're not mad that we're getting a girl your own age to tutor you?"

"Why would I be mad?" Harry questioned Sirius.

"Well…how do you know she's good enough? I mean, of course, _we_ know she is good enough, she's top in her year, could take the N.E.W.T's early and pass with merit apparently. That's got to be good." Sirius said, still confused at Harry's behavior.

Harry shook his head at his godfather, showing that this didn't seem to be a problem for him.

'Something is wrong here, very wrong' Sirius thought.

"Right, well in that case, we can schedule a meeting, so you can meet each other. Maybe later on today? You will have to be disguised, of course. Don't want her freaking out when she sees the ghost of Harry Potter and Sirius Black standing in the hallway." Sirius chuckled to himself, and went into the living room, presumably to talk to Dumbledore and arrange the meeting.

Harry sat back in his chair, letting out a long whistle from a breath he had been holding. The deputy head girl? That's what Hermione said she was last night. This was almost too good to be true. There was of course the chance that she was lying to him, but why would someone say they were deputy if they wanted to impress you? Why not just head girl?

Harry's insides seemed to have coiled with excitement when he heard Sirius tell him who she was. He felt like screaming, or jumping about the room, just something to get out this energy that seemed to have settled inside of him.

He hoped, on everything, that it would be Hermione who he was meeting again. Although, being disguised may make things more complicated, he would definitely be able to spend the time he wanted to with her. Harry shot out of his seat, and headed to the roof. For Harry: when in doubt, head to the roof.

They were standing in the great hall. Little weightless crystals floated around them as they spun with each other to the classical melody. She felt delicate under his touch as he whisked around the dance floor which seemed to fog up slightly. She felt beautiful in his eyes, and as he looked into her eyes she knew she would never know love like this ever again. They stopped dancing as he placed his fingers under her chin and raised her head slightly. As their lips were getting closer to each other he started to whisper.

"Hermione" he whispered, "Hermione. Hermione? Hermione! HERMIONE!"

Hermione woke up with a start. She moaned as she leant over to her bedside cabinet and find her clock to see what time it was.

"Ten Thirty! Why didn't my alarm go off?" Hermione proclaimed as she hurried out of bed and went straight to the bathroom, passing her roommates who were giggling in a way that was even abnormal for them.

The girls watched as Hermione threw them an evil glare before slamming the door.

"Why me? What did I ever do wrong?" Hermione muttered to herself. She had fallen for this prank a few times, but that was years ago. She didn't think her roommates were still immature enough to pull it again. Obviously, she trusted them too much… again.

She showered, changed and walked out the bathroom, almost ready to start the day. She went over to the mirror and found that her hairbrush was also missing.

"Oh, clever clever little girls. Didn't think I needed a hairbrush did you?" Hermione sighed. She took out her wands and performed a summoning charm and found that her hairbrush had only been moved to the other side of the room.

After collecting her books, she descended the staircase to the common room, and found the usual sight of a Saturday morning. The lower years all energized and planning the rest of their day, and the upper years, well, she liked to call them 'Zombies'. Nearly all of them were draped across the couches and chairs, all with gourmless faces. All the remnants of a late Friday night. Hermione felt sorry for them, not being capable enough to even make an anti-hangover potion, but she supposed that it was brought upon themselves.

She walked over to the fireplace to pick up some parchments she had left there the previous night, and found the 6th year boys huddled around the table. She looked at each of them in turn, taking in their appearance, and noticing that one of the boys and his girlfriend even seemed to be a delicate shade of pale green.

"Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey?" She said to them as she leant down to retrieve her parchments.

A couple of them acknowledged her, but hardly any of them said anything. One of them moaned out loud, what could have been words if it weren't for Hermione not being able to understand hangover language.

"This is the moan mark of a hic good night" said the red-headed girl, who Hermione recognized as being in 5th year.

Hermione sighed once more before taking her books and leaving the common room. She was heading to the library to start on her extra credit work she received from professor McGonagall.

As she reached the library she walked in and headed towards her table next to the window.

"Miss Granger?" Hermione heard her voice being called, and turned around to see Madame Pince moving around her desk to walk towards Hermione.

"Professor Dumbledore said that he knew you'd be here. Here, he wanted me to give you this note."

Madame Pince handed over a scroll tied with a blue ribbon, and Hermione thanked her. She took the scroll and went back to her table and sat down to read the note.

_Miss Granger,_

_I trust that you would come to the library, and hopefully this note has not reached you too late. I would like you to come to my office as soon as is possible. There is no trouble, I would just like to ask for your help, and maybe let you gain some more extra credit?_

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Hermione read the letter and hurried out of the library, heading toward the headmasters office. As she was deputy head girl she was granted permission to have a secret password that would open the doorway to Dumbledore's office, which she hadn't used before now.

She ascended the spiral staircase and knocked on the door granting her access to Dumbledore's office. She had only been inside this office a couple of times, and usually on prefect or deputy head girl business. Dumbledore had taken a shine to her, as she was hard-working, and he could not deny she was one of the smartest witches he had had the pleasure to oversee.

"Ah, Miss. Granger. Not up as early as usual?" Dumbledore smiled at her and motioned for her to sit down.

"Sorry, sir. There was a…complication, this morning." Hermione said as she sat down opposite her headmaster.

"Right" Dumbledore nodded, "Well, to business. I would like to offer you the opportunity to tutor an extra pupil."

"Of course, I already tutor some of the lower years. Normally they just ask me though." Hermione looked politely confused at the headmaster.

"Yes, I have seen. Well, this is rather a special case. It would need a lot more time and commitment than the younger ones. In fact, you may have to give up the time with the other pupils for this student. He does not go to school here, but is, how shall I put this, home schooled?" Dumbledore clasped his hands together and looked at Hermione who looked horrified that she would have to give up some of her tutees.

"Oh, do not worry, Miss Granger. The time and effort you put into tutoring this student will make up for extra credit that you would loose giving up the other pupils, and I'm sure some of the other prefects and possibly Draco can overtake their tutoring. " Dumbledore said, immediately letting Hermione breath easy.

"Well, I am interested, of course. What is it I would be tutoring in?"

"Let me give you all the details. He is the same age as you, just starting his N.E.W.T's. He is doing the same subjects as you in fact, which is why it would be good for you as well as him. He only needs tutoring in some of them however, as he already has a tutor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I believe, that he is about one month behind you, so it is quite simple to know what he has to know and planning the lessons. The lessons would take place in Hogsmeade village. The book shop, Flourish and Blotts, has a, what you may call 'study room', for you to occupy for the lessons. Any questions?" Dumbledore finished. He could see that the young woman was intrigued, and that she would never turn down an offer like this, as she seemed to be sitting on the edge of her seat.

"How much time will I be spending with them?" Hermione asked, hoping that Professor Dumbledore did not expect her to see them everyday, as she too had to study as well as them.

"Only around 4 times a week, maybe 5 if he is need of extra help. The sessions should only last a couple of hours each, after school, and on weekends for longer if you wish. It will not inconvenience you in any way, I hope. He is a fast learner, and I'm sure some of the topics he will be able to research himself. He, too, has a busy schedule." Dumbledore said, the last line seeming to mean a lot more to him than it did to Hermione, as he looked down and for a second she thought she saw a flash of worry across his features.

"Anything else?" Dumbledore asked.

"When can I start?" Hermione asked eagerly. She found it rather curious that she was being asked to give lessons to someone of her own age who did not attend Hogwarts. She could not wait to meet someone who did not know of her reputation at hogwarts, which meant she could start afresh with them, maybe even become friends. They would not judge her on what other people said about her, before even talking to her themselves.

Dumbledore smiled at her and gave her piece of parchment that had some more information on it.

"I hope you don't mind, but I got word from the other party that they were fine with you tutoring them this morning, so arranged a meeting for later on this day. I have given you access to Hogsmeade for the tutoring sessions, and trust you not to abuse the privilege."

"Oh, no no, I would not dream of it." Hermione shook her head and got up from her seat to leave.

"Well, I hope you get on well. If there any problems, then do not hesitate to contact me. Preferably a note before you wanted to meet, as I am usually quite busy, and do not want to inconvenience you by making you wait for long to see me" Dumbledore got up from his chair and moved around the desk to shake Hermione's hand.

She exited the office and looked over the parchment before stepping onto the spiral staircase.

"Tyler Watts" she read from the top of the parchment. This was definitely going to be interesting, in what way, Hermione did not know.

Later on that day, after lunch had finished and Hermione had organized everything she may need for the meeting, she found herself walking through the Hogwarts gates and on to Hogsmeade.

She always enjoyed coming here on the selected weekends, and couldn't believe her luck that she would now be able to see it more than a few times every week. She had read nearly everything there was to know about Hogsmeade, and was fascinated by it's history. She was particularly intrigued by the Shrieking Shack, as she wandered upon it many times, and only wish that she was brave enough to step foot inside it. Something seemed to attract her to it, and she sometimes used to think how wonderful it would be if she could overcome the fear of it, and make it a little hiding place for herself. The most haunted house in Britain, however, didn't seem to appeal to her if there was a big chance of certain death. But, perhaps one day, one day in the future, she would be able to find out why it is the most haunted house in Britain.

She walked up the high street and peered in all the shops, as usually they were full to the brim with Hogwarts students, but at this time, she could fully see the inside of the shops. There were a lot of witches and wizards around, doing there Saturday shopping or something or other. She enjoyed watching the commotion without all the other hogwarts students being here, as it seemed she was seeing the normal Hogsmeade for the first time.

She walked towards her favourite store, and opened the door with a chime. As she walked to the desk, her paced slowed down as she looked at the stacks of books on the shelves. She wondered if after this meeting she would be allowed time to wonder the shelves and make a mental list of all the books she wanted to read from this store.

"Hello?" she asked to no one in particular. There was no one behind the desk, and there was only one other witch in the store who she passed on the way in looking at the section under 'Goblins'.

"Anyone there?" she asked a little louder, and the shopkeeper burst out from under the desk, scaring the bejesus out of Hermione.

"Oh, sorry there madam. Decided to finally clear out this awful cupboard, but seems to take a year just to open all the doors and drawers." the shop keeper babbled. He looked around middle age and had somewhat of an air of wisdom around him. Well Hermione would expect no less from a books shop owner.

"How can I help you dear?" he asked Hermione looking at her uniform and seeming to already know why she was here, but just wanted to check.

"I have a meeting with Tyler Watts, my name is Hermione Granger. Professor Dumbledore said that we would be able to use your back room?" Hermione started to get nervous as she started to worry about stupid things like if she was early? Was Tyler not here? Did Dumbledore not explain to the shop-keeper why she was here?

"Yes yes, Professor Dumbledore did indeed talk to me about it, and it's fine with us. Come round here, I'll lead you to the room." he said as he turned his back on Hermione and started to walk down the little corridor that was behind the desk, "I'm afraid Mr. Watts isn't here yet, but when he does get here, I'll show him though straight away." He stopped outside the third door on the left and took out a bunch of big rusty keys from his pockets. He took a golden looking one and turned the lock to the door and opened it wide for Hermione to pass through.

She stared at the room astonished. It looked like a high-ceilinged Edwardian chamber, with furnishings to accommodate every type of person. It reminded her a bit of the Gryffindor common room, as it was decorated with dark red mahogany desks and shelves.

"We usually let this room out for Ministry of Magic purposes, or for Dumbledore, but he said that you would be spending a lot of time here, so it would be more comfortable." The shop keeper entered behind Hermione and showed Hermione what the room had to offer.

"We've got most of the copies of books in here that we have out in the store. Took a lot of magic to get this room the way it is now. Well, must be getting back, would you like a drink or anything?" Hermione shook her head and thanked him for all his help.

"Sorry to ask only now, but what is your name?" Hermione asked, feeling stupid for not observing etiquette and asking before.

"Fletcher, Nathan Fletcher. I only work here during the day Thursday-Monday. Kind of help out here and there as well. Well, if you need anything." he said as he disappeared round the corner out of sight.

Hermione took off her jacket and wandered around the room, passing the time and getting even more nervous about this first meeting. She turned around on the spot looking up at the ceiling and at the shelves around her, and once again caught off guard by a guy leaning against the doorframe smiling at her.

She froze on the spot and blushed red, as it seemed rather stupid to be found spinning on the spot.

"Oh, don't stop on my account," the boy said smiling, "I would have done the same if I were you."

He had his hands in his jeans pockets, his shirt untucked and looked very casual, making Hermione a bit self-conscious of her uniform.

"I'm Hermione Granger, deputy head girl of Hogwarts." she started in a formal tone. Her embarrassment had made her more business-like than she had wanted, but she wanted to cover up her awkwardness.

"Yeah I know," he said coming forward and offering his hand, "I'm Tyler. No doubt you already know lots about me though."

Hermione shook his hand, and felt a warmth spread from his hand across hers. Once again, to hide the surprise she nodded in a firm way and moved to sit down on one side of the table behind her. He sat down opposite her and stared at her as if analyzing her every move. She felt his eyes on her as she took out a couple sheets of parchment from her bag.

"Well, Tyler, I thought that we could just discuss what you've been taught up to now, and decide when we should carry on and what days we should meet up." she started as she looked down at the parchment that Dumbledore had given her detailing his name, O.W.L. results and what N.E.W.T's he would be taking. She looked up waiting for a response, but found he was still staring at her.

"What is it? Is there a problem?" she asked, slowly forming an opinion of the boy in front of her, and not a good one at that.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." Harry said as he looked down at the same bit of parchment with his details.

He had watched since he came to the door, and at first he thought he was seeing the same girl in the bar, but as soon as she started to talk in her firm tone, he noticed something different about her. She didn't seem as carefree as she was at the bar, but Harry put it down to his new disguise, and her being here for educational purposes.

Hermione started to express her views on how she would tutor him, and how she would be teaching him stuff that she had learnt more than a month ago, and therefore she was looking forward to it, as it was a revision for her.

"You like studying, don't you?" Harry asked after she had pointed out that she was the top of her class in every subject. He looked at her like she was some kind of alien telling him that she liked to bath in manure everyday.

"Well, there's a lot to be gained from it. What is your view?" she asked, telling herself not to read too much into a look.

Harry shrugged and looked at her again, there was a questioning look in his eye. "I only do what I have to, to me there are far more important things than studying in life." he said.

Hermione looked slightly disappointed, but got over it quickly, as she knew that not everyone joined in her passion for knowledge.

"What is more important to you then?" She asked, trying to get an overall perspective of him.

"Sport, staying safe, going out, enjoying the moment, " Harry shrugged and paused, "women." he said smirking, wondering is he would be catching onto his motives.

He wondered if he had gone too far, as she saw her lips purse and a flash of anger cross her eyes for a split second.

"Do you want to do well in your N.E.W.T's?" she asked, wondering is he was going to be wasting her time here.

"Sure," Harry replied with a shrug. He wasn't sure what was going on with the girl in front of him, for he felt sure that this must have been some alter-ego of the girl in the bar.

"Let me ask you a question," he said suddenly as he leaned forward towards her, "do you like going out? Socializing?"

"What has that got to do with anything" she said, well aware that she did not want to answer such a question that would upset her, "I think we should get back to the task at hand."

"Right," said Harry. He was now contemplating with the idea that she was ashamed of her socializing, and considering he had a new disguise of a 16 year old boy, why would she admit to him more about herself than he needed to know?

A couple of minutes passed, in which Hermione asked him questions about how ha had been taught and what he was good at, and what he needed the most help in.

"So," Harry started after a moments silence, "do you go out a lot in Hogsmeade?"

"Once again, you're going off the subject, and it has nothing to do with you." Hermione said starting to get irritated that he did not seem to be taking this seriously enough.

"What's your favourite drink?" he asked, probing around for anything that may make the 'bar-Hermione' appear.

"Look, if you're not going to take this seriously, I might as well leave now." Hermione said tensely. One more stupid question and she was going to get really angry.

A moment of silence passed, before- "What's your favourite bar?"

"Stop it! I do not want to waste my time on some home-schooled jock who thinks he can charm his way into my pants," Hermione looked at his shocked face before adding, "yes, I know you're type, think just because you're good-looking every girl will fall at your feet. How many tutors have you managed to get through already then?"

Harry sat there stunned, as he didn't know she would react like this to him asking so many questions. He thought that this meeting would end up him and Hermione being on really good terms, and eventually he would be able to make a move and finish off what he started in the bar.

"Woah woah. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to take it like that." Harry looked down at the table, " I haven't really had much contact with people my own age, so I didn't really think I was going over the line."

Hermione started to feel slightly sympathetic to him, but shook herself out of it, as she thought it was another tactic to get her to talk to him, and then eventually charm her. She stared at him, and eventually he brought his head up to look at her and she questioned him with her eyes.

"I just wanted to get to know you, after all, if I was to spend quite a lot of time with you, no harm in knowing what you're like?"

She looked at him and sat down slowly on the opposite chair to him.

"Well, let's make on thing clear then. I'm here to help you through your N.E.W.T's, and that's all that really matters to me. So if we can stick to the task at hand for now?" she said, thinking that he would only be tolerable if she laid down strict rules.

"Right." said Harry nodding, although he wasn't half listening, as he stared at her lips which she had, only moments previously, been chewing and was now hypnotizing him.

"Hello?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes, "did you even hear me? Eurgh, you're all the same!" she said as she got up from the chair again, and began to place the sheets of parchment in her bag.

Harry noticed her annoyance and thought quickly, 'say something that will grab her attention!'

"Hot Magic!" he said quickly getting up from his chair too.

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione said surprised, looking at the crazy guy now standing in front of her.

"oh, come on! You must know! 'Hot Magic'?" Hermione looked at him even more confused now and he continued, "The band? 'Hot Magic'? You like them, don't you?" Harry asked in desperation.

Hermione looked at him quizzically.

"I've never heard of a band called 'Hot Magic'" she said not looking at him, and then walked towards the door and gave Harry one last dismissive look before leaving him standing alone in the room.

**Don't forget to leave a comment! I need you guys to keep me on my toes for mistakes and errors! And tell me if you're interested in beta-ing.**


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